What Oxfam is Doing
- Increasing Political Participation
- Protecting Indigenous Territories
- Improving Emergency Response
INCREASING POLITICAL PARTICIPATION
Oxfam helps indigenous groups in the Amazon lowlands and Andean highlands improve their organizations, manage their natural resources, preserve their culture, and defend their rights.
The indigenous people of South America have endured centuries of racism. They are routinely denied their basic rights to education and health care, clean water, and adequate nutrition. Centuries of colonialism, conflict, discrimination, and state neglect have left indigenous areas far behind in terms of income, literacy, and decent employment.
Oxfam America helps indigenous organizations train leaders and members to better represent the needs of their people at the local, regional, and national levels. Organizations use our grants to improve their communications and more effectively advocate for policies that will help their people. They also build alliances with other organizations with similar interests.
Case in Point: eastern Peru's Amazon basin.
Oxfam America has prioritized grant assistance to the Machiguenga Council of the Urubamba River in Peru, an organization that has helped communities gain legal title to their ancestral lands and advocate for fair and responsible plans for the Camisea Gas Pipeline through the area. Their work to organize communities and create viable proposals helped convince the Inter-American Development Bank to impose social and environmental restrictions on the pipeline project, and carve out a role for indigenous people to monitor the construction and operation of the pipeline. An Oxfam grant helped the organization train its staff, fund radio programs to keep communities involved and organized, and build the technical skills needed to confront well-financed multinational companies in the pipeline consortium about their plans for the project.